Dawnie Does the Marvelverse
by alienyouthct
Summary: Dawn Summers decides to disregard the Scoobies' advice and have a heart-to-heart with a vengeance demon. Adventures ensue.
1. Henry 'Hank' McCoy

Title: _Dawnie Does the Marvelverse  
_Author: JoeHundredaire  
Rating: PG-13/FR15.  
Disclaimer: Right, I actually went and checked to be sure this time… after being passed around like a slut at a frat party over the past few years, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, _Angel: the Series_, and all associated characters now belong to Warner Brothers. With a myriad of writers, artists, and editors - and directors, now that we're getting decent movie and television renditions - actual rights are a nightmare when you go near a comic book universe. Suffice it to say that Marvel Entertainment LLC owns all of the property printed in their comics, along with the television and movie adaptations of said same property. Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.  
Summary: Dawn Summers decides to disregard the Scoobies' advice and have a heart-to-heart with a vengeance demon. Adventures ensue.  
Joe's Note: This is mostly a proof-of-concept for an idea I wanted to integrate into the future of _Trigamy_, which some of you may recognize if you read through the Halloween arc of the original version of the story. The story will occupy a universe that's loosely based on the _X-Men: Evolution_ cartoon insofar as most of the characters we know and love are either high schoolers or young adults. That being said, I'm not going to be sitting here trying to match ideas to rewritten versions of specific episodes, and so you're going to be disappointed if that's what you're looking for.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"Humidity is rising… barometer's getting low. According to our sources, the street's the place to go. Cuz tonight for the first time, just about half past ten… for the first time in history, it's gonna start raining men!" Dawn Summers did her best to keep a straight face as the large, blue-furred man in the room with her cringed but refused to look up from his computer. His fate was his own fault, though, at least in her opinion. Okay, fine, so he felt the need to run assorted tests on her DNA. That didn't mean she had to stay here while he performed them, did it? She'd been dropped into his boss's office via magical, interdimensional portal with nothing more to her name than the clothes on her back and the iPhone in her pocket. Where was the harm in letting her wander around the school she'd seen brief glimpses of on the way down to the lab? What was she going to do, run off? With no money, no one to help her, and nowhere to go? "It's raining men! Hallejulah! It's raining men! Amen!"

There was a crack as Doctor Henry McCoy gripped the edge of his desk a bit too hard, and then the mutant sighed before looking back over his shoulder at Dawn. She imagined that most people would find his fierce, blue-furred, leonine countenance a bit intimidating. They hadn't had to deal with Buffy on her period, though. "Miss Summers. While I understand that you may find this boring, these tests are essential in determining two very important things. Firstly, given that you are a minor, we need to figure out what to do with you. Secondly, it is imperative that we discover what - if any - other special abilities you might possess."

Dawn shot a glance down at her hand, curling her fingers into a fist and watching as the digits transformed from flesh and blood to glittering diamond. Evidently 'Hallie the Guidance Counselor' had given her a bit of an… upgrade… before dropping her off at Mutant High. So far, Dawn had transformed her entire body once by accident and her left hand a few times on purpose. While the idea of powers didn't necessarily freak her out because again, Sunnydale native… accidentally turning herself into diamond in the middle of the mall would probably provoke a 'burn the witch' type reaction from the average citizen. Knowing what she was capable of and how to control it sounded eminently practical to her. Knowing if there was someone out there who could claim her, so she didn't end up living in a box or a foster home? Also a good idea. It was just so boring! "I'm hoping the last names are just a coincidence, and I'm not related to that Scott kid. He seemed like a bit of a tool."

"During your sole encounter with him, you exchanged twenty words at most."

"Unlike my sister, I have a high-quality tool-o-meter."

"I see."

"Yup." Looking up, Dawn spotted an unlit examination lamp and carefully grabbed the edge, guiding it down so she could study her reflection in the glass. "Also unlike my sister? I appear to be a natural blond these days." She'd first noticed it when a few flyaway strands drifted into her face on the walk down; while her hair had come through the transition with its length and texture intact, Hallie had decided to turn it platinum blond for no apparent reason. Or maybe some apparent reason. "You know, everyone I've met here so far looks at me like they've seen a ghost. Why do I have the feeling that you know what those tests of yours are going to say?"

"While I may have my suspicions, Miss Summers, if there is one thing that I've learned the hard way over my years as a scientist, it's to never count my chickens before they're hatched, sexed, and inoculated." The computer beeped and McCoy turned back to his work, his claws clicking against the keys as he muttered softly under his breath. "And here we are. Well, it seems that I have both good and bad news to share with you. The good news is that I have located a ninety-seven point five percent allele match in the databases I have access to, meaning you do have family here in our world. In another piece of good news, that person is a mutant - meaning we can make a very educated guess about what your full power set might be - and on top of that… the match is not in fact Scott Summers."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Dawn slid off of the table she was sitting on and made her way over to the good doctor's desk. "And the bad news is… it's someone you hate, isn't it?" Pausing, she thought back to the brief history of this dimension that she'd received after convincing the scary guy with the weird hair to stop trying to stab her to death. Based on how few of this world's prominent and historical figures were familiar to her, though, Hallie had tucked her away in a dimension pretty far from home. Which meant that it'd be harder for the Scoobies to track her down, which in turn increased the importance of finding a way to fit in and survive here in this strange new world. "Lemme guess, that Magneto guy that Xavier's gone all Hatfield 'n McCoy with? Which would really suck, because the man may be a genocidal douche, but he's got two really hot daughters. Who are a whole lot younger than him, now that I think about it, which means that someone was robbing a few cradles…"

McCoy shot an unreadable look back over his shoulder at Dawn before shaking his head and returning his attention to the computer. "No, you are not a Lehnsherr. Your guess isn't that far off-target, though. While we haven't quite reached the level of 'hatred' yet, the Institute's encounters with the family in question have been largely unpleasant. Four children, all mutants, and all of them rather egotistical and selfish when it comes to the usage of their powers." Opening the computer's Internet browser, McCoy tossed a phrase that Dawn didn't catch into the navigation bar. Within seconds, Google was returning a mix of news articles and website links, separated by a series of pictures of a very pretty teenage girl who shared Dawn's new hair color. "Tell me, back in your world… were you at all familiar with the Frosts?"


	2. Charles Xavier

Joe's Note: Well, this got far better reception than I was anticipating. Cool beans. This chapter's also going to be a bit of setup, and then we'll get Dawn out and about and meeting the residents of the universe she's fallen into. The list - as it stands - will include members of both of the major mutant factions from _X-Men: Evolution_, a few independent mutants, the Avengers, and even Spider-Man. And Spider-Woman, because that's how I roll.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"Would you mind buying me something white to wear for when I meet them? You know, so I blend in better? I'm sure I'll be able to pay you back once-"

"Once you explain to them that you are their middle daughter's fraternal twin from another dimension?" Charles Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair before steepling his fingers under his chin. "Just so you know, Dawn, I have already taken in several teenagers who couldn't remain in their previous situations once their powers manifested. As a matter of fact, they outnumber those who are paying tuition to attend my institute by a two-to-one margin. You wouldn't end up homeless or in state custody if you decided not to contact the Frosts."

Dawn frowned and flopped back in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Yeah, except I'm seeing a problem with being a part of that enrollment model. It kinda requires me to stay in your good graces if I want to keep a roof over my head and food in my tummy. What if I decide I don't like you? Or what you stand for? Then I'm back to being screwed and I've wasted time I could have spent getting to know my family." After a moment, Xavier nodded to concede the point and gestured for her to continue. "By the way, I love how you phrased things to make me sound like the biggest lunatic possible. I mean hey, maybe I am… but I'm a lunatic who can pass the DNA tests, which is all that matters to the muggle courts, isn't it? Heh. Muggles. Do you have a phrase for normal people that you guys use, or can I stick with that?"

After glancing down at his hands, Xavier looked over at the bookshelves that ran along the wall to Dawn's left. Following his line of sight, she found herself looking at the burnt and warped remains of a strange-looking metal helmet. "Erik coined the term 'flatscans', due to the difference in how they register on Cerebro. Some of my students continue to use it."

"Huh. 'Flatscans'. It lacks a certain… something… to be honest. Pass. I'll stick with muggles if it's all the same to you." Dawn tapped her fingers against her knees, patiently waiting for Xavier's attention to return to her. Because seriously, if she was going to have to bare her soul here, she wasn't going to do it for someone who wasn't even paying attention. "If it'll get you off my butt, though… my mom died last year. So did my sister, but then her friends brought her back. I wish they hadn't, as sick as that sounds, because she's not the same anymore. She's cold. Hard. Different. She's not my sister. And… I miss her. And my mom. And the dad I had before he ditched us to become a cradle-robbing douche. So if there's a chance I can be a part of a family again in this universe? Even if it's the Frost parents instead of Hank and my mom, and I'd have a brother and three sisters instead of just Buffy? I want to take it. And I don't think you have the right to try and stop me."

Rather than answer, Xavier just stared at her consideringly… and then Dawn felt the briefest of tickles against her mind before her body involuntarily shifted into diamond for the second time. That in turn made Xavier grimace, bringing his fingers up to rub at his temples. "My apologies. I've come to rely on my powers a bit too much in my day-to-day life, it seems. A habit I will have to break if you decide to stay with us."

"It's cool. My sister was telepathic for a few days back when I was in eighth grade and she couldn't stay out of our heads either." Dawn looked down at herself, imagining herself back in her flesh and blood form. It took a few seconds and some serious focus, but eventually her pale skin reappeared. As the reversion finished, an idle thought drifted through the blonde's mind. Xavier was an intelligent man. Maybe he knew… "Just out of curiosity, do you know what a stevedore is?"

"It's a term for a man who works at the docks loading and unloading ships. Why?"

"That… well, I suppose someone like that would have lots of stamina. And he'd be pretty strong. And considering who said it about who, I think that's about as far as I want to ride that train of thought." Dawn shuddered in disgust before uncurling her legs, leaning forward a bit. "So, like I said, I want to meet my family and I'm not going to let you stop me. Which means that at some point, I'm shipping up to Boston. The only real question here is… are you going to help me get there, or am I going to need to hitchhike?"

Opening the writing drawer, Xavier withdrew a white envelope and placed it atop his desk. "There's no need to resort to something so dangerous, Dawn. As I said, I'm quite capable of assisting young mutants who need my help. Even if I'm unsure of their true motives." He pushed the envelope across the desk toward her. "Inside that envelope, you will find two round-trip tickets between Croton Falls and New York aboard Metro-North, two tickets from New York to Boston and back aboard the _Acela_, and a reasonable amount of spending money. Mister Howlett will drive you to the station tomorrow morning. Please be ready to leave by eight o'clock sharp. He doesn't like tardiness."

Dawn snorted, snatching the envelope up and opening it. "I get the feeling there aren't many things he does like." She set the tickets aside for the time being, focusing on the crisp green bills that filled the envelope. Thankfully, there were no Benjamins; a slightly scruffy middle-class girl wandering around with a pile of those would have been a bit too conspicuous for her liking. Instead, there were a pair of fifties and… fifteen twenty-dollar bills. More than reasonable in her opinion, especially since he was paying for her train fare on top of that, but she sure as hell wasn't going to argue. Glancing back down at the train tickets, she paused. One, two… three, four? Four tickets for each railroad? One there, one back, and what else? And then it hit her. Obviously Xavier wasn't going to let a strange girl with untamed powers and minimal knowledge of their world wander around without supervision. "So, who gets the fun job of playing my shadow?"

"I thought you might be more comfortable with one of your peers as a traveling companion, albeit one of the older and more experienced students here at the Institute." Xavier waved his hand, and Dawn turned to watch as the door opened to admit a slender redhead with stunning green eyes. "I'd like to introduce you to my protégé, Jean Grey. She is both a telepath and telekine, rendering her uniquely suited to handling any power-related incidents that may occur on your trip."

Definitely better than an adult shadow, and Dawn appreciated that she wouldn't have to spend the entire trip living in fear of her powers manifesting and doing… something. On the other hand? "Hmm. Does she come in any other colors? Not a big fan of redheads these days."


	3. Warren Worthington III

Joe's Note: This was one of the pieces that needed a bit of streamlining on my second pass through the story. A bit? Heh. A lot. I had a bunch of continuity goofs, like Dawn showing awareness of post-human naming conventions when she didn't a day later with Lorna and the two of them discussing her full power set when it wasn't mentioned until two or three chapters down the line. But I really liked the idea and wanted it in my story, so I went through and fixed things up so it worked better.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"So, my last sister dated a broody vampire named Angel and one of my Facebook friends cosplays as Angel from _Borderlands_… but I never thought I'd get to meet a real angel."

"…seriously? The professor didn't warn you about me?"

Dawn chuckled as she put the sneaking out skills she'd honed on Buffy, Willow, and Tara to good use, carefully climbing out the window of the guest room Jean had shown her to and then making her way along the roof to where the winged blond was perched. "Oh, he did. But I mean… your primary mutation is a pair of giant white feathered bird wings, and you picked Angel as a codename? You're kinda asking for it." As Warren Worthington the Third pondered that, Dawn moved to sit on the edge of the roof beside him. "So…"

Jumping slightly, Warren stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Reading the message on the screen, he chuckled. "I'd go with a comment like 'so, you're the new girl?' or something along those lines, but the answer's pretty obvious. Hmm. Let's go with… so, is it true that my girlfriend's got a new little sister?" Dawn's jaw dropped and he tilted the screen enough to show her an iMessage conversation between him and… who the hell was 'Robert Drake' and how did he know her secrets already? Not that she particularly cared, given she intended to spread it far and wide in due time, but it was the principle of the matter. Her expression must have spoken volumes, because Warren chuckled before offering an explanation to the question she hadn't vocalized. "When she gets excited, Jean's telepathy goes from a sniper rifle to a shotgun. She probably just meant to share a juicy bit of gossip with Scott… but evidently the whole living room heard."

"…and Xavier told me that my dislike of redheads was groundless. Shows what he knows. It's totally groundful. Remind me to give her a telekinetic wedgie or something as soon as I figure out how to be telekinetic." Dawn's muttered complaint earned her an odd look from Warren, and she forced her fist into its diamond state for a few seconds before reverting it. "But yeah, I'm Emma's dimension-hopping fraternal twin sister. Sorta. Kinda. And we have one power in common but evidently we pulled a wishbone for psionics. So we can both kill you with our brains, but in totally different ways."

Spreading his wings wide, Warren curled one around her shoulders and used it to pull Dawn in so he could do likewise with his arm. "While that may be true, unlike her… you won't won't know when I'm thinking dirty thoughts about you, so you won't know you need to kill me with your brain."

Dawn pondered that for a moment before leaning in closer to Warren. "Eh, cute rich older boy wants to think I'm cute? I'd allow it." Reaching over, she snatched his iPhone out of his hands, pushing the Home button and then opening up the Photos app. Given that the blond had specified a new 'little' sister, he clearly wasn't dating Emma or the smallest Frost, and 'girlfriend' likewise eliminated the sole male in this generation of Frosts. Surfing through the Camera Roll, she quickly found pictures of Warren with one wing curled around the shoulders of a blonde slightly older than the one McCoy had shown her. Jackpot. And… huh. "Although I'd have to question your sanity if you were busy fantasizing about me when you have a girlfriend that looks that good. Damn. Whole family seems to be ridiculously pretty. Makes me feel like a hell of an ugly duckling, let me tell you. That's…" Dawn paused, racking her brain. The good doctor had listed off a handful of names and ages, but she hadn't expected to need them again so soon. "Adrienne, right?"

Warren nodded. "Adrienne. I was hoping to be assigned as your shadow for tomorrow for obvious reasons, but the professor shot me down. Chances are it's because he forgot we live in a digital era these days, and thinks that my visits are the only times she's working on me to come out as a mutant and join her at Harvard next year." Pausing, he tilted his head to the side. "On the other hand, he's a telepath and so he should know otherwise. Hmm…"

That certainly put an interesting spin on things, Dawn mused, especially when combined with the revelation that Jean was far from the psionic master that Dawn had believed her to be. Not to mention… juvenile much on Xavier's part? Especially for a man of his advanced age, with the maturity said age should have brought? The blonde shook her head and went back to wandering through Warren's photos, quickly tracking down images of her little sister-to-be, her twin, and her older brother. "Can you tell me about them? You know, beyond the kind of stuff I'd track down on Google? It doesn't have to be really personal, but I'd like to know a little something about them going into tomorrow and you're the only person in the mansion who isn't all 'grr, Frosts'."

"That's because I'm the only person Emma won't fuck with. She and Adrienne have had an uneasy truce ever since…" Warren trailed off, shuddering. "Let's just say that you never, ever want a psychometrist pissed at you. They have a way of finding every last dirty secret you have. Literally." Considering most of her dirty laundry was an entire dimension away, Dawn would… take that advice very seriously. Because while nothing she'd done up until this point would make effective blackmail, that wouldn't stop her sister from using future missteps against her. "As for the family, I don't want to say anything about the parents because I'm meeting them as The Boyfriend. They'll probably treat you completely differently, and I don't want to prejudice you. Christian's been away at college most of the time I've been seeing Adrienne, so I don't know him very well. Cordelia's definitely the baby of the family and acts it; bring a cupcake or two when you show up and she'll love you until the sugar high wears off. Buy her another, and she'll love you again. And while I love her to death, Adrienne is a Machiavellian little bitch and so she'll probably just sit back and watch and wait. Figure out how you fit into the family, figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, and then go from there."

Dawn nodded, filing all the information away for future usage. Especially the bit about Cordelia; given how much Dawn enjoyed puttering around in the kitchen, she'd likely be the Frost most easily swayed to her side. There was someone missing, though. "What about Emma?"

Curling his fingers around the upper half of his phone, Warren carefully slid it out of Dawn's grasp before letting out a harsh bark of laughter. "I'm the wrong person to ask there, because to be exceedingly blunt? She's a fucking hellspawn. Even if she's not dumb enough to try messing with my head anymore, she's not any more pleasant to be around now than she was before Adrienne slapped her down and so I avoid the little bitch whenever I'm at the house." With that, he brought the conversation to an abrupt end as he thrust his wings straight out behind him and tipped forward, plunging over the edge of the mansion's roof. Spreading his wings wide, he used several powerful beats to gain altitude before gliding off toward the lake.

A sigh escaped as Dawn clambered back to her feet. Standing on the edge of the room, she pulled the envelope Xavier had given her out of her back pocket and frowned down at it. Maybe this road trip of hers wasn't such a… oh, fuck it. If she could survive Buffy of all people, how bad could Emma be?


	4. The Howletts

Joe's Note: One of the drawbacks to doing a project like this, where you've got a rough idea of where you're going but are racing the clock to produce something on a daily basis? Sometimes, you come up with a better idea… too late. Considering this is web-published fanfic, though, rather than a real book? There's nothing to stop me from taking two chapters, pushing them apart, and shoving something in there between them.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

When Dawn woke up the next morning, she was more than a little surprised to find herself laying on her back with a pair of dark green eyes staring down at her. "…hi?"

Her dark-haired bedmate studied her in silence for a few seconds before lowering her head to rest on Dawn's chest. "Did you know that you sleepwalk?" Huh? Dawn looked around as best she could with someone pinning her down, taking in a bedroom that… was most definitely not the comfortable but bland guest room she'd fallen asleep in. Well shit. So much for being able to complain about taking liberties, since she was the one who'd climbed into this strange girl's bed. "It's 7:35. You should probably get up and take a shower; the only thing my father hates more than late people are smelly people. It's an enhanced senses thing. I'm usually not too fond of them either… but you're really comfortable."

"Well thanks. I think." Dawn furrowed her brow; was that a compliment or an insult? On one hand, the girl had called her comfortable but on the other, she'd also implied Dawn smelled bad. Although was it an insult to point out the obvious? People generally had a bit of an odor to them in the morning. That was why they showered. Ugh. She was a nice long shower and a coffee or four away from wanting to think deep thoughts. Wiggling out from under the girl, Dawn slid out of bed… and then realized that she couldn't even make a graceful exit because she had no idea who this girl was. "By the way, I'm Dawn."

The girl rolled over onto her back before sitting up, sending the sheet sliding down to pool around her waist and holy God, how had Dawn not noticed that her bedmate was buck naked?! The blonde let out a squeak and covered her eyes as the girl began to stretch without a hint of modesty. "I know."

After waiting in near-silence for several seconds, Dawn peeked between her fingers. Well… it wasn't like she was spying through a hole in the wall or something. The girl knew she was here. If she wanted to be an exhibitionist, was Dawn really doing anything wrong by appreciating the show? "…and you are?"

Pausing, the girl turned to look at Dawn, the corner of her mouth quirking up. "Not Dawn."

"Funny."

"Really? I've never been told that before."

"No. Not really." Turning away, Dawn stalked toward the door. As the still-nameless girl had pointed out, Dawn didn't really have time for games. So she'd just do her Walk of Shame back to her room - hopefully she could find it without stopping to ask for directions, because that would just make the awkward even more so - and shower and be on her merry way. Depending on how things went today, she realized, she might not ever return. So did it really matter if some girl she might never see again wanted to play stupid games? "Hmmph. Bet she'll wish she was nicer to me when the Frosts take me in and I end up all rich and stuff…"

As Dawn yanked the door open roughly, the girl's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Laura. And I'd be more impressed if you were related to the Links." Looking back over her shoulder, Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Jack Link and his sons Troy and Jay?" Dawn's other eyebrow slowly rose and Laura sighed before opening the drawer of her nightstand and pulling out a large, black and red plastic bag. "You know, the people who own Jack Link's?"

Dawn slowly turned around to properly face Laura, buying her a few seconds as she tried - and failed - to comprehend that one. "So wait. You'd be more impressed by me being related to some guys who make snack food than me being a member of one of the richest families in America?"

"Well yeah. I love beef jerky. All the Frosts own are some big houses, and a fleet of boats and airplanes."

"…and the worst part is, I understand that logic perfectly."

* * *

"You reek of Sriracha."

Scrunching up her nose in disgust, Dawn brought her hands up and shoved Mister Howlett hard, sending the short and scruffy man stumbling back a step. "First of all, I just showered and so no I don't. Second of all… I haven't had that stuff since they switched from serrano chilis to jalapeños. I'm more of a Cholula girl these days."

Howlett snorted, eyeing her suspiciously. "I never said you were eating it. Just that you smelled like it. And it takes more than a shower and some of Red's body wash to fool my nose." Closing back in on her, he grabbed Dawn's left wrist and raised her hand to his nose so he could sniff at her fingers. Shaking his head, he muttered something under his breath as he repeated the process with her other hand. "No, definitely not eating it." He leaned in further, sniffing at her mouth and then… her chest. "Ah. So it's like that, then."

More than a little fed up, Dawn put as much strength as she could behind a second shove, this time earning her a whopping three step backward stumble. "Okay, I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but there's this thing called personal space. Learn it. Obey it. Love it. Now, if you want to talk about… whatever your problem is like a normal human being, I'll-"

"I stopped buying rooster sauce after the kids gave themselves nasty indigestion for the fiftieth time. The only Sriracha in this entire mansion is in my daughter's room: she had me buy her a damn pallet of some weird special edition beef jerky made with that shit as her birthday present this year. She won't share it with anybody - not even me - which means that you've got secondhand smell on you. I can only think of a few ways it could have gotten there…" Making a fist, Howlett ejected the three gleaming metal claws that he'd tried to shove into Dawn a few times the previous afternoon. "…and none of them are things I want to think about my daughter doing. Ever. Especially with a Frost. So if I ever catch that smell on you again?" Retracting the two outer claws, Howlett slowly drew the center claw across his neck. "I'm the best there is at what I do… but what I do best isn't very nice. I'd hate to have to show you firsthand."

Dawn stared at Howlett with wide eyes, peripherally aware of the telltale tactile deprivation that accompanied her skin shifting into diamond in response to a perceived threat. "…all I did was sleepwalk into her room last night. She's the one who turned me into a pillow instead of waking me up and sending me back to my room. I probably smell like it because she was like, breathing beef jerky breath on me for a few hours."

Chuckling, Howlett retracted the last claw before patting Dawn roughly on the head. "Uh huh. Sure, kid. And your new daddy's got some oceanfront property in Arizona he can sell me." He turned away, still chuckling lowly as he made his way down the front steps of the mansion and headed for the van parked in the driveway. "Seriously? Sleepwalking? How stupid do the kids think I am? Fuck, if I had a dollar for every time one of the kids here 'sleepwalked' into someone else's room, I'd be Chuck by now."

Well. Fuck you very much, rest of the Institute's occupants, for ruining her ability to get out of trouble by telling the truth…


	5. Peter Parker

Joe's Note: Just a few things to keep in mind, people:  
1.) Halfrek posed as Dawn's guidance counselor just into the second half of Season 6. That allows you to place Dawn's age pretty easily.  
2.) Being a 97.5% allele match to Emma Frost makes them fraternal twins. Between that, Dawn's age, and the reference to a 'blonde teenager' in the first chapter, you can just as easily place Emma's age.  
3.) Jean is said to be a peer of Dawn, albeit slightly older. That establishes a rough age for her age as well.  
Please keep those ages in mind when making comments or suggestions about the future of the story or the characters in question. Which was a warning I had to give on another site given a particular user's predilection for suggesting I get Emma - and Dawn - into the classic comic Hellfire Club regalia ASAP, but I figure bears repeating here before things can become an issue.

* * *

"Are you really from another universe?"

"Too tired to talk. Come back after I've had my coffee."

"Dawn, you've already had coffee. You're drinking coffee right now. You've got a frappuccino in each hand." Jean sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "How are you still tired? You slept until 7:40, and napped all the way down here. Drooling on my shoulder the whole time, might I add."

Dawn scowled, taking a sip first from the cup in her left hand and then the one in her right. "I hate mornings. Whoever invented times before noon should be shot. And then vamped so they rise and I can shoot them a few more times before staking them. Have I mentioned that I don't like mornings?"

It took Dawn a few steps to realize that she'd lost her traveling companion, and she looked back over her shoulder to find Jean gaping at her in disbelief. Shaking herself, the redhead rushed forward to rejoin Dawn and then leaned in as she lowered her voice. "Vamped… wait, like in vampires? Wherever you're from has vampires?"

"Vampires, werewolves, zombies, demons, witches, magic, the whole nine yards." Dawn took another sip from the cup in her left hand, and then something occurred to her. "You know, this world might have them too. It's just a matter of knowing where to look and, well, I've only been here one night and I spent it at the school." Blessed silence descended as Jean contemplated that, just as Dawn had hoped. Being fully capable of following two-step instructions, Dawn easily led the way as she took alternating sips from her two drinks, guiding Jean westward across Manhattan to the intersection of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street, hanging a left and heading downtown. Half a block later, it was Dawn's turn to stop dead in disbelief. Having spent the last five years in Sunnydale, invoking the phrase 'the strangest thing she'd ever seen' wasn't something she was willing to do lightly. And yet… "What. The fuck. Is that?"

'That' was a man being chased up the street by a figure in red and blue spandex that bounced from streetlight to streetlight, occasionally firing off some sort of line that allowed him to swing forward past his prey, heckling the man as he went. Jean's loud sigh drew Dawn's attention to the redhead as she shook her head in disgust. "That's Spider-Man. Him and his girlfriend are pretty much walking public relations nightmares for our kind, and they're not even mutants according to the professor. But since they use what are obviously superhuman powers to fight crime…"

Over the years, Dawn had gotten enough 'your conduct reflects on me' lectures from both of her parents plus Buffy to be able to finish the redhead's thought for her. "People assume they're mutants, and you get blamed for what he does. That sucks." Something else that sucked? The fact that Spider-Man was creating his spectacle between them and their destination, when they had only thirty minutes to make what her phone said was a twenty-one minute walk. After watching the superhero play with his prey for a few more seconds, Dawn turned to Jean and thrust her frappuccinos into the telepath's hands. "Well, as long as we're getting blamed anyway…"

"Dawn, what are you… oh no, please don't…"

Dawn ignored the redhead's plaintive cries as she stalked toward Spider-Man and a scruffy-looking man she assumed was a criminal of some sort. "Hey! Crooky McCrookerson!" The crook skidded to a stop and looked around wildly before gesturing to himself. "Yes, you. I have a very important question to ask you." Stopping an arm's length away from the man, Dawn raised her right hand high and wiggled her fingers. "What did the five fingers say to the face?"

"What?"

With a thought, Dawn's hand shifted into glittering diamond and she smacked the man across the face hard. "Slap!" The hit spun the man clear around before dumping him onto the ground, leaving him rolling around on the sidewalk as he clutched at his jaw and moaned. Oh, and… "Are you… are you crying? There's no crying in burglary." Taking a step forward as her hand returned to normal, Dawn stretched out a toe and kicked an oversized, bright pink purse away from the fallen crook. "At least I hope you stole this, because even I know it doesn't go with your outfit."

Spider-Man picked that moment to remind her of his presence, firing one of his weird white lines down and retrieving the purse from the sidewalk. "I'm not sure it goes with anyone's outfit, to be honest. Spider-Woman bought it because it looked like the kind of thing you'd own if you had more money than taste or common sense." Dawn looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "It's a bait purse. She dresses up like a ditzy cheerleader on vacation and wanders around until someone robs her. There's a hidden pocket in the lining where we hide an iPhone, so we can track the crook down if they get away."

"Ah." Tilting her head to the side, Dawn ran a critical eye over the superhero. "So… you're Spider-Man. Are there a lot of red and blue spiders out there in the wild?" Behind her, she could hear Jean snicker as she approached, even as Spider-Man sputtered. "Let me guess. You got it for ninety percent off in a 'nobody else wants to wear this' sale?"

Grumbling under his breath, Spider-Man tipped forward so he was hanging from the underside of the streetlight, clutching the reclaimed purse to his chest. "I'll have you know that I put a lot of time and effort into designing this costume, thank you very much. I wanted something that I could wear after dark without terrifying the crap out of the people I was saving."

Dawn scoffed at that. "You know what'd go a long way there? People being able to see your face." Before she could share any additional thoughts on Spider-Man's choice of costume, or the little entrapment-esque operation he was running with Spider-Woman, the sound of sirens cut through the ambient noise of downtown Manhattan. "Well, it's been fun, but I do have a train to catch." Looking back over her shoulder, she met Jean's gaze and then jerked her head in the direction of the distant Penn Station. "Hey, Red! Unless you want to be stuck listening to me whine for however long it takes to sort shit out and get us on a later train… let's move it!"

"Woah woah woah." Doing a flip in midair as he dropped to the street, Spider-Man landed neatly on his feet and straightened up before gesturing to the downed criminal. "You can't leave. I'm pretty sure you bitchslapped that man's jaw into at least two pieces. Possibly more."

"And you're going to be the one still here when the cops arrive. Have fun with that." Taking a step to the left, Dawn attempted to slip past Spider-Man only to sigh as he cut her off again. "All right, listen. I'm not a morning person and I've only had one coffee so far today. I'm pretty sure you've made me late for the train that I'm supposed to be taking to my first ever meeting with my biological family. And my fists aren't the only part of me I can turn into diamond." She shot a pointed look at his crotch before slowly bringing her eyes back up to stare into the reflective white lenses of his mask. "Your move, bug boy."

A strange combination of thump and metallic twang drew Dawn's attention upward to where a pigtailed blonde girl wearing an Aéropostale t-shirt, distressed jeans, and a black domino mask was perched on the streetlight that Spider-Man had previously occupied. Spider-Woman, presumably. "If it means anything, I'd like to cast a vote for the option that doesn't end with him peeing blood. I'd probably end up getting graphic details of the damage from his girlfriend and…" Trailing off, the girl shuddered. "No thanks."

Spider-Man looked from Dawn to his partner and back before grimacing and taking two big steps backward. "Uh, now that I think about it, you have a very valid point. Very convincing. There's no need to stick around. As a matter of fact… do you want a lift to the station?"


	6. Jean Grey

Joe's Note: And now, the long awaited exposition chapter. Because seriously, what else is a three hour and thirty-seven minute trip in a 417 foot tube good for? Up until now, I've resisted doing this chapter on two grounds: I didn't want to nail down details until I'd finalized things in my head, and also because it would be redundant from an in-universe perspective. After all, Dawn's already talked to the adults about certain things before the story starts. Why would she do it again? Just so we can read it? That's a little silly, especially since she was about to meet her new red-haired traveling companion, who knew little to nothing about her…

* * *

"So… are you really from another universe?"

"Didn't we already do this one?"

"I tried. You complained about the existence of mornings."

"Oh. Right." Dawn looked away from where the Connecticut coastline was zipping by outside the window, raising an eyebrow at Jean. "Isn't me talking about 'my world' versus 'this world' enough an answer for you?"

An uncertain look stole across Jean's face as she contemplated Dawn's non-answer, and then she shook her head. "Not being from this world doesn't automatically make you a dimensional traveller, if you think about it. You could be an alien… a shapeshifting alien who's made herself look human. And maybe you, I don't know, abducted Emma Frost at some point so you could sample her DNA and pose as her sister?"

Try as she might, Dawn couldn't manage to contain the snort of laughter that the redhead's words elicited. "I'm an alien. Who abducts and probes someone before doing a really bad job of trying to insert myself into their life. That's somehow more believable to you than me being a dimensional traveller?"

"Yes. Especially because a nice thorough probing would explain how unpleasant Emma is." Jean pulled her phone out of her pocket, poking at it for a few seconds before holding it up and imitating the expression on the blonde girl displayed on the screen. For some reason, the phrase 'constipated chipmunk' came to Dawn's mind. Except… did chipmunks even get constipated? Nuts were awfully high in fiber… "Oh, look at me. I'm Emma Frost. My ancestors came over on the _Mayflower_ and I talk with no Rs. I'm too good to be polite to you, much less go to your school."

Oh God. The Frosts - or at least Emma - were non-rhotic? Dawn burst out laughing; while she'd known they were from Boston, she hadn't expected that. Her new body was related to snooty old money with a bad accent. How much worse of a Beantown stereotype could you get? "Seriously? She's Emmer Frahst? That's priceless. I'm gonna feel like I'm living in a Mayor Quimby focus episode or something. But while I'd love to ask a few innuendo-laced questions about why you spend time thinking about my sister getting 'probed', I think you've earned a few honest answers. Yes, I'm from an alternate reality. Things are too similar here for me to call it an alternate universe. And before you ask, I'm not freaking out because we had an outsider pop into our reality back home once. She got sent back home eventually. So there's got to be a way to send me home… if I decide I want to go back."

Jean went from smiling to blushing brightly to furrowing her brow in thought over the course of Dawn's ramble. "If you want to? Why wouldn't you want to go back?"

"Are you kid… oh, that's right, you weren't there for that talk. Okay, long story short? Before I came here, I lived in a town called Sunnydale. Another name for it? Boca del Infierno. The mouth of Hell. That's why I saw so much weird and nasty shit. And while I knew all about it, I was the normal girl in a group of people who were trying to fight it. The others? My sister had superhuman powers, two of her friends were witches, her best guy friend was dating a girl who was over a millennia old, and the father figure of the group was like a walking supernatural library. Oh, and he could do some magic, too." Dawn knew that technically she was far from 'normal', what with being the Key and all, but that wasn't something Jean needed to know about. Besides, did it really count as something special if all it did was make people want to try and kill her? "And on the domestic front? My dad divorced my mom when I was ten. Ran off to Spain with his secretary a year or two later. My mom died almost a year ago. Aneurysm. Oh, and my sister's died twice so far."

Mouth opening and closing, Jean let out a few incoherent noises before finally managing a response. "I… wow. That's horrible. I mean… yeah. I can see why you might not want to go back to that. And…" The redhead paused before frowning. "Wait. Your sister's died twice?"

Dawn nodded. "She got better both times. The first time with CPR, and one of her witch friends used magic to resurrect her from the dead the second time. While I'm totally 'yay, no more dead sister' on one hand, on the other hand? She came back… different. Wrong. I'm guessing it has something to do with being torn out of heaven but hey, what do I know? I'm the token normal girl. But anyway, at the end of the day… when the girl with the superpowers gets dead twice? It makes you start thinking about your own mortality. I'd kinda like to live long enough to graduate high school. Preferably college too." Leaning back, Dawn gestured across her body and out the window at the wider world. They were currently somewhere between New York City and Stamford, Connecticut; Dawn didn't know exactly where, but the trees mixed with occasional glimpses of rocky shore and water were scenic enough. "Here? I don't know if supernatural evil exists, but if it does? I'm not helpless anymore. Not to mention that I'm away from my neurotic sister and her magic junkie bestie. Sure, I'll never be able to seduce Xander or anything, but sacrifices must be made."

Silence reigned as Jean processed the information she'd been given, and Dawn continued to stare out the window at Long Island Sound. And trees. And more and more buildings, which made her think they were getting closer to Stamford. Her traveling companion seemed reasonably bright, at least based on their interaction so far, and so Dawn didn't doubt that the inquisition would continue once the redhead had a chance to mull it all over. Sure enough, Jean eventually broke the silence with a question… that was not one that Dawn had expected of her. "So, you said you were a normal girl back home, but obviously you're a mutant now. How did that happen? I mean, do you know? Or did you just wake up here different and it was a complete surprise?"

Turning back to Jean, Dawn placed her left hand on the armrest between them and shifted it into diamond. "It was a little bit of Column A and a little bit of Column B, to be honest. I knew I was going to be some sort of superhuman, but not the exact details. Not sure how I feel about the powers Hallie gave me, but telekinesis and a diamond form is still better than nothing and more nothing. And it could be a lot worse. Considering who and what Hallie is, I'm surprised I didn't end up as a girl version of that abomination that the Hulk fought in Harlem." Maybe Hallie wasn't as mean as Anyanka… or maybe she'd feared how the Slayer might react to someone turning her sister into a veiny green beast with rage issues. Either way, Dawn was very much aware that her wish to 'be all super-powered and useful and not a helpless little girl Buffy has to protect' could have turned out far worse for her. Pausing, she tilted her head to the side and then returned her arm to normal before leaning across Jean's lap to get a better view. Speaking of green… "Two rows up, in the solo seat on the left side of the aisle. Is that who I think it is?"

"Hmm?" Jean followed Dawn's line of sight before letting out a soft groan. "How the heck did I miss her getting on the train? I mean, she's wearing all green…"

"Don't know. Train starts before New York, you know. She could have been there when we got aboard. I'm not even going to pretend I think it's a coincidence that she's on the same train as us, though. Which means we can skip straight to… what does she want?" Dawn took a moment to pout at the fact that she had not in fact been granted her fraternal twin's telepathy before deciding to proceed with the old-fashioned method for getting answers. Bringing her fingers up to her lips, she let out a piercing whistle that caught the attention of all forty-two other passengers of their car. Including… "Hey! Lorna! C'mere!"


	7. Lorna Dane

Joe's Note: I hadn't put much thought into the 'when' of things beyond that it occurs in the present year to minimize the research I need to do about pop culture and technology. After all, each of these chapters is being written in a day. Hardcore research à la my usual writing isn't something I can afford. But the last chapter inadvertently did pin down a rough window in which the events of this story unfold: February 2013. So we're looking at winter in New England here. I'm sure Emma's ecstatic, because she's got camouflage!

* * *

"Hey! Lorna! C'mere!"

Leaning a bit to her right, Lorna Dane peered down the aisle at Dawn. "And where exactly am I going to sit if I do? On Marvel Girl's lap?"

Dawn rolled onto her back, staring up at Jean as she mouthed the words 'Marvel Girl'. The redhead blushed faintly before rolling her eyes. "You know how we all have our post-human names. Like Scott is 'Cyclops' because of the visor he wears when he's practicing with his powers, Bobby is 'Iceman' because he's a cryokinetic, and Warren and Doctor McCoy are 'Angel' and 'Beast' because… well, obvious reasons. The boys were pestering me to pick one, someone threw out 'Marvel Girl' for reasons I still don't understand, and I told them to go with it just to shut them up. And now I'm Marvel Girl." Looking up, Jean narrowed her eyes. "And there is no way you're sitting on my lap, Lorna. I might catch something."

"We're the next evolution of humanity, and we still haven't gotten past slut-shaming. Awesome." Lorna let out a sigh of disgust and Dawn wiggled a bit, inching herself across Jean's lap so she could turn her head and stare back up the aisle at the green-haired girl. Rising to her feet, Lorna unzipped her bottle green bubble jacket and tossed it back onto her seat. She stretched before gesturing to her body. And a very nice body it was, in Dawn's opinion. Like she'd told McCoy, Magneto might have been a douche but he had two really hot daughters. If not for the fact that he was creepily old, the blonde would suggest studding him out to see if he could pass the Hottie Gene on a few more times before he carked it. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, Marvel Girl, hate me because your boyfriend thinks I am."

"I'm sure Duncan would stare at me the same way if I started showing up for school wearing corsets."

"But you don't. So who was he staring at that time he walked into his locker? Not you."

"Okay, so fine, he looks at you. But which one of us does he take out on dates? Not you."

Dawn groaned loudly and sat up before sliding herself fully onto Jean's lap, interposing herself between the two arguing girls. "Jesus Christ, can you two just kiss and get it over with already? The sexual tension here is so thick that even the Hulk couldn't smash it." Over the course of their bickering, Lorna had edged closer to their row, making it possible for Dawn to reach out and slap a hand over each girl's mouth when they began sputtering denials. "Jean, Lorna can wear whatever she wants. Deal with it. Lorna, of course guys are going to stare if you shove your chest in their faces. It doesn't mean they like you. It means they like your tits. So stop baiting Jean, because Duncan probably thinks of you the same way he thinks of girls that end in JPG."

A long lick across her palm convinced Dawn to free Lorna's mouth, and the green-haired girl took a step back before crossing her arms under her breasts. Peering down at the cleavage revealed by the low neckline of her green tank top, Lorna frowned. "I'm better than dirty pictures. I'm three-dimensional. Very three-dimensional in the place in question." Pausing, she looked from her cleavage to Dawn and back. "Unless… do they make 3D porn yet? Because then I might need a new counter-argument."

"I… do not know. Willow and Tara didn't own any, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Dawn slid across the armrest and rose to her feet, standing in the aisle. Turning to Jean, she made a shooing motion. "You, slide over." As the redhead sighed but obeyed, Dawn turned to Lorna and looked her over speculatively. "Hmm. You're a tiny bit taller, so you take the seat next to her and I'll sit on your lap." Lorna opened her mouth to protest, but Dawn raised a hand and cut her off. "Listen, we both know why you're on this train. You want to talk to me? This is how it's gonna happen. Now sit down next to Jean or go back to your seat. Your choice."

Letting out a mighty sigh, Lorna gestured for Dawn to back up before slipping into the seat next to Jean and shooting a glare at the redhead. "I bet I know why they call you Marvel Girl. It's a marvel anyone realizes that you're a girl in outfits like that."

Jean scowled and made a slight tugging motion with her right hand, using telekinesis to seize a strand of Lorna's hair and jerk it hard. "First of all, just because I don't run around half-naked doesn't make me any less of a girl. Second of all, which one of us has a boyfriend right now? Because while you might be better at attracting boys, I seem to be a lot better at keeping them. Which is better?"

"Bitch."

"Slut."

"Prude."

"Now kiss…" Reaching in, Dawn fisted one hand in Lorna's hair and the other in Jean's, pushing the two girls toward each other. Her efforts earned her an elbow to the stomach followed by a telekinetic shove to the chest, and she released the pair as she stumbled back. Straightening up, she snickered even as she rubbed at her aching chest. "Like I said, UST you could park a tank on top of. Anyway, you two have fun. If this does in fact turn into an epic hatefuck, try and make it to the bathroom first. I don't have enough money on me to pay Jean's bail."

As she turned to walk away, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. Looking down, she found Lorna staring up at her with wide eyes. "Wait, what? Where are you going? The only reason I'm even sitting here is because you told me-"

Dawn shook her arm until Lorna released her before pointing up the aisle at someone who was trying - and failing miserably - at being subtle while watching them. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to talk? I never would have guessed, what with you sitting there giving all the attention to 'Marvel Girl' and not me."

"Seriously, I'm done, I swear." Lorna leaned back in her seat, patting at her lap. "I promise to ignore Marvel Girl and talk only to you and-"

"No, no, it's okay." Dawn chuckled as she reached in, slipping her hand between the twin points of the green-haired girl's tiara and patting Lorna atop her head. "After all, who am I to stand in the way of true love? So you two can sit there and bicker as foreplay and then kiss and then start picking out names for your two point five children and your dog and decide what color house to have behind the white picket fence… and me? I'm going to go talk to your supervisor. And maybe investigate this whole at-seat menu thing that the website says we get for being in first class. Because I don't know if we're on the menu rotation that has the Belgian waffles or the French toast, but they both sound delicious to me."

Before she'd made it two steps down the aisle, Jean and Lorna were back to bickering, this time over whose fault it was that Lorna had lost her chance to talk to her assigned target. Dawn just kept walking, grinning as her new target's eyes widened and then the girl quickly turned to face forward again. Pushing Lorna's jacket down into the footwell, Dawn appropriated the green-haired girl's seat and knelt on it, leaning forward over the top of the seat in front of her. She waited… and waited… and then the pointy tips of the girl's odd red tiara just barely missed the sides of her face as the older girl tilted her head back, staring up at her warily. "Miss Summers."

"Miss Lehnsherr."


	8. Wanda Lehnsherr

Joe's Note: While I'd intended to go a completely different direction with the previous chapter, once I started in on it… that fell out. Mostly because I thought it'd be more realistic for a pair of teenage girls from opposite cliques/gangs who openly dislike each other to sit there going at each other instead of behaving like mature, respectable adults pursuing a logical agenda. Why? Because they're mutant teenagers, but they're still teenagers. Teenagers do stupid and selfish shit. Here's additional exposition and such, though, to fill in some of what I'd intended to put into Lorna's chapter before getting distracted.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"Miss Summers."

"Miss Lehnsherr."

"Miss Terious."

"Ooh, good one. Let me think." Dawn reached up, tapping her fingers against Wanda's tiara as she thought. "Miss… Taken?" One slender black brow rose at that, and she shrugged. "All right, so it doesn't work as well as yours but… answer please? Because I've thought you were really pretty since Xavier did his who's who of the mutant community. Doing the whole _Romeo and Juliet_ thing could be fun. Or… I've never been seduced to the dark side before."

Wanda smiled faintly at that before nodding. "I'm seeing someone, yes. I actually need to stick my head out and pass him some money when we stop in New Haven, so you can meet him then if you want." Reaching up, she pressed her palm against Dawn's forehead and gently tipped the blonde's head back so that she could move without hitting Dawn with her tiara. Turning to her right, she waved her hand negligently… and her row abruptly realigned itself so that there were two seats on the left side of the aisle and one on the right. "Join me?"

While she was pretty happy with their current seating arrangement - evidently Lorna wasn't the only member of the Lehnsherr clan with a fondness for corsets - Dawn nodded before hopping out of her seat and moving forward one row to join Wanda. Figuring that Wanda had taken her obvious ogling fairly well for a taken girl, Dawn decided to push her luck and leaned in so she could rest her head on the taller girl's chest. When no rebuke was forthcoming, she threw one arm around Wanda's waist and snuggled a little closer. "So… nobody even blinked at the train getting remodeled. Your doing, or is there a third member of the Brotherhood onboard somewhere?"

"Since you know who Lorna and I are, I'm guessing you know at least a little bit about our powers?" Wanda waited for Dawn to look up and make a vaguely agreeable noise before continuing. "While most of my probability manipulation is flashy, obvious things - like moving your seat over here next to me - it doesn't have to be. I can create 'passive' changes in the environment, too. For instance, generating a field that lowers the probability of people seeing anything wrong with two teenage girls yelling up and down the car about being mutants. Or that I'm using my powers out in the open."

That… was actually kinda cool, Dawn decided. While flashy, powerful stuff had its time and place… didn't the fact that she could change things without people ever realizing it make Wanda even more powerful? "Any chance you could generate a field that raises the probability of Jean and Lorna getting along?"

Wanda let out a snort of laughter at that before reaching up to pat the back of Dawn's head. "Oh, you poor naïve girl. If I could do that, don't you think my half-sister would have made a better first impression? No, even my powers can't make those two get along. They're like oil and water."

"I don't know, I think they're kinda like peanut butter and anchovies." Dawn bit her lip to avoid laughing at the disgusted look on Wanda's face. "Well sure, it sounds like a really horrible idea on the surface. But once you go ahead and put them together, you find out they really go well together." Wanda's expression shifted from disgusted to contemplative… and then back to disgusted. "What? I like peanut butter, and I like anchovies. Peanut butter and anchovies could only be even more awesome than the two things on their own."

Winding her fingers through Dawn's hair, Wanda gently turned the blonde's head until Dawn was staring directly into her cleavage. "Just… shut up and ogle me while I talk. You're actually less disgusting that way." Yes ma'am. "Now, since I'd be wondering what Lorna and I are doing here if I were in your shoes… to be honest? I convinced our father that we should be the ones to make official first contact on behalf of the Brotherhood because I was curious about you. It's not every day that I feel someone else tear reality apart and reshape it to their whims, you know. Considering who you're related to, though? We're not here to recruit you. After all, your new siblings have made it very clear that they want to be a third party when it comes to mutant politics. Last time someone tried to press the matter, Lorna ended up speaking in nothing but cheers until Father hired Mastermind to come and fix her."

Dawn blinked owlishly, and not just because she was practically being forced to motorboat a pretty girl. "Cheers as in…"

"As in your sister paid me to transform her clothing into an outfit like the one the cheerleaders at the local high school wear and conjure up a pair of pom-pons for her to wave." Wanda's words started Dawn's mind racing even as the dark-haired girl continued on. "Sure, you're not a telepath so you can't pull something like that and Marvel Girl's not well enough trained to do it for you. But we have no idea what Emma's effective range is, or if she can use her siblings as an… organic Cerebro, for lack of a better term. So I'm going to behave anyway, because I really don't want to spend the next few days living in fear of psychic retaliation I'll never see coming and have no way of stopping."

Unwilling to give up her lovely view, Dawn reached up blindly and patted around until she could trace her fingers over the red tiara that Wanda was wearing. "So this doesn't..?"

There was a long moment of silence and then Wanda huffed before releasing Dawn, rolling the blonde over onto her back atop her lap. "I was shaking my head and then I realized that you couldn't see it. No, my father's the only one with useful headwear. I came up with this as part of a Halloween costume a few years ago and then added it to my daily wardrobe because…" Wanda trailed off, furrowing her brow. "I'm not sure why, but a lot of mutants dress weird. Maybe to make the ones with physical mutations feel less self-conscious? Don't know. But I wanted to fit in, so I started wearing it when I shifted to my all-red wardrobe."

"It's cool. Did you design Lorna's too?" Dawn nibbled her lower lip as Wanda nodded. Considering she had no idea where she was going to end up as far as the mutant community's politics went, why not take advantage a fairly obvious opportunity to extend a hand in friendship? "Do you think you could make one for me too? Preferably in white, maybe with some sort of snowflake theme to it?"

"Sure. I'll start sketching up some ideas when I get home. Ask your older sister Adrienne for my email."

"My… right. Christian, Adrienne, Emma, Cordelia. And now Dawn. The Frosts. Oh, and Winston and Hazel. Can't forget them." Dawn frowned, again wishing that the Frosts had chosen different names for their children. While she didn't have a problem with any one particular name, the combination was annoying. Mostly because there was no easy mnemonic she could think of to help keep her new siblings' names straight. Although while she was on the subject… this was the second time that Wanda had demonstrated detailed knowledge about her. "How do you know so much about me? My powers, who I'm related to..?"

Wanda's brow furrowed as she stared down at Dawn. "Does Uncle Charles still admit that he used to be friends with my father?" Dawn nodded. "Oh. Huh. I'm a bit surprised, to be honest. If I was him, I would have revised the history I tell potential recruits to minimize or eliminate my ties to the wanted mutant terrorist and his followers, but what do I know? Anyway, my father helped transform the Xavier family mansion into what it is today, back before he decided his ideas for the future of mutantkind didn't mesh with Xavier's. One of my father's followers did all the IT work, and so we kinda still have access to the Institute's servers. I can't imagine Uncle Charles doesn't know… maybe he's too lazy to pay someone to rebuild Forge's cybersecurity suite from the ground up? Or maybe they're still in cahoots and this is all some complex plan of theirs that none of us have been clued in on? I don't know. But I do know that we had access to your information as fast as the people at the school could type it in. Make of that what you will."

They were all just pieces in a game of chess being played by two really old - and potentially crazy - men. Wasn't that just a cheery thought? Dawn shook her head. "Pass. I don't have a horse in their race, and I might not ever have one if what you say about my family is true. Might have a real pony soon, though. Or six. The Frosts are loaded, after all. Although I'll want at least one that's made of diamond so I can name it Butt Stallion…"

"You're a very strange girl, Dawn Summers."

"And you're a very busty one, Wanda Lehnsherr. You know, as long as we're playing a game of State the Obvious."


	9. Pietro Lehnsherr

Joe's Note: This was by and large the smallest chapter of the original version of the story because I was going through onset sickness for beta blockers while dealing with a sick girlfriend when I wrote it. All I had to do was a minimum of 300 words a day to stay in Fic-a-Day, and so I did. Now that I have the time and wherewithal to go back and rework things, though, I am… although it's still going to be the shortest chapter of this story because I can't really see a way to flesh out people interacting during a station stop that lasts literally four minutes maximum.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

By the time the train pulled into New Haven's Union Station for a brief stop, Wanda and Dawn had progressed beyond the requisite exposition and one-sided flirting phases of their conversation and had managed to hash out a mutually satisfactory agreement for how the rest of the day would proceed. Dawn would allow Lorna to tag along on her visit to the Frosts, and then see her safely back to one of the city's two main train stations so she could buy a ticket to somewhere that Wanda could discreetly fetch her from. Preferably North Station, since Wanda had never been to Maine before and so shipping Lorna out on the _Downeaster_ would allow her to kill two birds with one stone. It would also be Dawn's job to ensure that if - or rather when - Lorna and Jean got into a fight, neither did lasting damage to the other. In exchange, Wanda would use her powers to transform Dawn's outfit into something suitably Frosty for the occasion… and give Lorna's outfit a few tweaks to make it a bit more aesthetically appealing. Not only would that given Dawn some good scenery for the rest of her adventure, but it would allow her to pocket the majority of the money that Xavier had given her.

The majority rather than the entirety because she'd already spent $17.40 on frappuccinos, and was going to send another twenty dollars with Wanda's mystery man so he could pick up lunch for her. "I still don't get how this is going to work. I mean, you said the train stops for like… five minutes. Did he buy me lunch already and I'm paying him back? Or-"

"Patience, grasshopper." Wanda nodded as she passed the conductor before stepping into the vestibule. Crossing her arms behind her back, she leaned forward a bit and stared out the window. "All will be revealed in three… two… one…" There was a screech as the train came to a stop beside the platform, sending Dawn stumbling into the nearby wall. Letting out a soft snicker, Wanda waited patiently for the door to open before stepping out onto the platform. She reached her arm out, pulling someone toward her. "Dawn, this is my boyfriend-"

Dawn's eyes widened as she took in the pure white hair on the young man Wanda was hugging. While there was a possibility that more than one mutant had that power, or that Wanda was secretly dating a normal human who had some kind of condition? Sometimes, the most obvious answer was in fact the correct one. "Pietro? Pietro Lehnsherr? Your twin brother?" Shuddering, she took a step backward. "I wasn't sure what kind of accent you had, but I didn't think it was West Virginian."

Snorting, Pietro darted forward and grabbed the twenty that Dawn was holding before retreating back out onto the platform. "Please, like we haven't heard that one before." Wrapping an arm around Wanda's waist, he gave his sister a peck on the lips before returning his attention to Dawn, waving his free hand up and down Wanda's body. "And look at her. Can you really blame me for wanting to date her?"

"Yes. Because she's your sister. I mean, I have a hot fraternal twin sister too, and I'm not going to try and pet her kitty." Frowning, Dawn tapped a finger against her chin as she thought. West Virginia - or Alabama, for that matter - had been the obvious route. Of course they'd heard that one before. What about… "I suppose if someone asks me if you have a cute boyfriend, I could tell them it's all relative?"

The corner of Wanda's mouth actually quirked upward at that one, even as Pietro let out a groan of disgust. "That one's new. Not terribly funny, but new. At the end of the day, though? At least we're staying within our species…" Oh God, was this going to turn into some kind of lame lecture about dating muggles, err 'flatscans'? "…unlike a certain ball of green energy I can think of." Wait, what? She'd told neither Wanda nor the people at Xavier's about- "Just out of curiosity, Dawn, what do you think the odds are of that shell of yours spontaneously unraveling and turning you back into a soulless, mindless blob of energy? Because if you keep insulting me… chances are that those odds will start inching upward toward one hundred percent."

Raising her hands in surrender, Dawn let out a nervous chuckle. "Message received, loud and clear. Don't insult the scarily powerful girl's love life. Gotcha. I'm all over it." There was a moment of supremely awkward silence and then she turned to Pietro. "So, about this lunch thing..?"

"I'd ask about the green ball of energy thing, but I learned long ago that there are some things about Wanda and her powers that us mere mortals aren't meant to understand." Pietro gave Wanda another peck on the lips before returning his attention to Dawn. "There's a great seafood place a few miles up the line. I'll take your orders, run over, eat my first lunch, race up to meet the train when it stops again in Providence, hand off your food, eat a second lunch, and then meet up with Wanda in Boston."

"Second lunch? What are you, a hobbit?"

That actually earned Dawn her first smile - or at least a half-smile - from Pietro. "I'll leave the lectures on the care and feeding of a healthy mutant to Wanda. Needless to say, there's a reason the one thing my father and Xavier can agree on is a five meal a day system for their underlings. We're running out of time, though. Large lobster roll for each of you?"

Pulling away from her brother, Wanda rejoined Dawn aboard the train before turning to look back at Pietro. "I suppose. I was actually in the mood to try out the whole belly clam roll, but I don't need to be Destiny to know how that would turn out."

"I wouldn't make jokes about…" Pausing, Dawn let out a snicker. "Okay, I would totally make jokes out of you eating clam. But don't let that stop you. I mean, I can take the large lobster roll and go with jokes about you liking a lot of meat in your mouth… and now I'm picturing things I don't want to and it's incest and oh hey look, there goes my appetite."

As the door hissed shut, Pietro offered a parting shot. "More for me!"


	10. Barbara 'Bobbi' Morse

Joe's Note: Still feeling like crap as I deal with onset sickness from the new meds, so I decided to write in a brief… not so much a detour, but a speed bump. A few chapters that will be short and sweet, mixing exposition and humor as I show that holy crap, running around in public using your mutant powers attracts attention in the modern world. Perish the thought.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

When the train rolled into Providence, Rhode Island a bit over an hour later, Dawn had calmed down enough to be hungry again. Peeking out the window and catching Wanda kissing Pietro again as he handed over their lunch threatened to ruin her appetite once more… but the smell of hot lobster and melted butter managed to combat that quite effectively. Which was lucky for Wanda, because Dawn would have been really pissed to have wasted seventeen dollars on a sandwich she had to throw away. Or let Pietro eat.

As the train trundled its way into Boston's South Station, Dawn stood in the bathroom of the first class car, looking herself over in the mirror. Making semi-friends with a girl who had a vengeance demon's ability to warp reality but without the abject cruelty and need to twist your words was a handy thing, she decided. While at first the idea had weirded out, she'd quickly agreed to keep them after seeing how hot she looked with blond ringlets similar to Wanda's that were streaked with bright green. The ratty jeans and t-shirt that she'd started the day with had been transformed into a very presentable white button-front blouse and ankle-length skirt, and… Dawn furrowed her brow, leaning in to study her reflection for a moment before undoing the top two buttons of her blouse. Tugging her shirt open so she could get a better view, she chuckled as she discovered that she was now wearing a cardinal red bra. She was willing to bet that her panties were also Wanda-colored now. Cheeky.

Another screech sent Dawn slamming into the bathroom and she cursed as she straightened up, buttoning her shirt back up hastily. Damn train was out to get her. Opening the door, she stalked back down the aisle to where Wanda was standing in the aisle as she used her power to coax the second seat back over to the right side of the car. "You sure you don't want to come along? Watch me terrorize my new family? Hang out with Adrienne? Maybe-"

"Get ogled and hit on by you some more? Listen to more jokes about my relationship? Pass." Wanda ignored Dawn's pouting as she turned back to her seat, grabbing the long red coat draped over the back and shaking it. Red light rippled over it, bleaching it as white as the rest of Dawn's outfit, and then Wanda held it out to the younger girl. "Here. It's warmer than the one you came aboard wearing, and you're going to need it more than I will." Dawn made a vaguely inquisitive noise as she shrugged the jacket on, prompting Wanda to elaborate. "It's Carnival right now. Pietro and I are going down to Rio de Janeiro for the day."

Grumbling, Dawn buttoned her jacket. "And times like this make me wish that Hallie had turned me into a flying mutant. Because then I could meet the Frosts and then jet off for fun in the sun. Você é uma garota de sorte, Wanda."

"Sim, estou. Afinal, você está preso com Lorna e Jean para o dia." Wanda chuckled softly at the expression of surprise on Dawn's face. "Reality manipulator, dear. I changed the odds of those language learning CDs working for me. Now if I could only change the probability of where the weight goes when I eat chocolate. I would kill to have an ass like some of the girls we see down there." Dawn took a step forward, only to be met with a palm to the chest. "And before you take that as an opening to paw my ass and then tell me how great it is… have fun. I'll be waiting for your email." With that, Wanda clicked the heels of her red boots together three times and then disappeared in a shower of red sparkles.

The sudden lack of resistance sent Dawn stumbling forward a few steps, earning her twin snickers. Looking up, she glared at Jean and Lorna. "Well, you're getting along now at least… but it's because you're laughing at me. Not sure if want." Turning around, she marched her way up the aisle, breezing between business travelers who were still busy packing up their laptops and retrieving bags from the overhead racks. Exiting the left side of the train, she shivered as a gust of cold wind blew snow down the platform at her, making her very glad that Wanda had been nice enough to give up her jacket. Even if it wasn't quite enough, she couldn't imagine how cold she'd have been in the denim jacket that… Jean had hopefully grabbed on her way out, or otherwise the redhead was going to be down a coat.

After what seemed like an impossibly long walk but was probably more like a minute and a half, Dawn dove through the sliding doors and entered the station proper, rubbing at her arms frantically. "I take it back. I wish Hallie had turned me into a She-Hulk. I bet he doesn't get cold in the winter." There was a strangled gasp from behind her - two of them, actually - and Dawn peeked back over her shoulder to find both Jean and Lorna staring straight ahead with terrified expressions on their faces. Well, it wasn't Magneto in Jean's case or Xavier in Lorna's because then the other girl wouldn't be scared… they weren't under attack by an unaligned mutant or the Hulk or Godzilla or something because then there'd be crashing and screaming and stampeding… so what was the problem? Slowly turning her head to follow the girls' line of sight, Dawn blinked slowly at the sight that greeted her before tilting her head to the side. It was a really hot blonde woman in a blue and white catsuit. Granted the woman had heavily armed backup in SWAT-esque outfits, but she was still ridiculously hot and wearing a catsuit with a decently low neckline. "Huh. And here I thought that I was a naughty girl this year. And that Christmas was two and a half months ago."

"You have been a naughty girl, Miss Summers." Twirling the sleek metal staff in her hand a few times, the blonde rapped one end against the stone floor before stuffing her free hand into her pocket and pulling out a black leather wallet. Flicking her wrist, she flashed a very official-looking orange and white ID card at Dawn. "I'm Agent Morse of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. And I'd like to talk to you about the little incident you were involved with in New York this morning."

Dawn let out a nervous chuckle. "Is there any way I can convince you that it was my evil twin who has straight, completely blond hair and likes to wear less fashionable - and more colorful - clothing?"

Shaking her head, Morse made a beckoning gesture. "Now the three of you can come with us… or we can make you come with us. What's it going to be?"

Before Dawn could respond, Lorna stepped forward and puffed up indignantly. "When my father hears about this, he-"

"Your terrorist father knows plenty about how SHIELD works from all his run-ins with us, Miss Dane. If he sent you to intercept a person of interest, then I'm sure he saw this coming. If you're not here on his orders? Then I'm sure he'd love to find out where his baby girl ran off to." Tucking her wallet back into… somewhere… Morse took a two-handed grip on her staff and twisted, separating it into a pair of smaller metal staves. "Again, you'll come voluntarily or you'll come by force, but you're coming no matter what. So which is it going to be?"

"…do you have any idea how much that sounded like the intro to a lesbian bondage porno? Especially when I combine it with you telling me that I've been a naughty girl?" Dawn tried her best, but couldn't keep from giggling at the exasperated look on Morse's face. "What? You said it, not me. Although I'm not sure if things are as cut and dried as you think, what with you being armed with a metal staff and backed up by metal guns… when your opponent has a magnokine standing next to her." Morse and her companions shot uncertain looks down at their weapons, affording Dawn a chance to break away from the others and close the distance between her and the older blonde. The soldiers brought their weapons up but a hand signal from Morse stayed their trigger fingers, allowing Dawn to keep walking until she had completely invaded the taller woman's personal space. Resting her hands on Morse's hips, she tapped her fingers lightly. "Not that I'm the type to do it, but… do you really think you could take us if I wanted to force the matter?"

Surprisingly, Morse reacted to neither the implied threat nor the physical contact, instead choosing to laugh softly in Dawn's face. "SHIELD knows all about you and sent me to bring you in. What do you think?"

Humming softly, Dawn leaned in and rested her cheek on the agent's exposed collarbone. "Oh? Does that mean the SHIELD handbook covers how to take down suspects that can't be choked out, and who can turn off their circulatory and nervous systems off at a whim? Because I'm not getting that strange tingle off you that I get from being near a mutant. Which means that all you can bring against me are your weapons and your training, and at least one of those is completely useless…"

"The problem with that logic, though, is that I'm just one agent with some troops. If it comes down to it, I don't need to stop you. I just need to delay you until backup arrives." Morse raised an eyebrow, waiting until Dawn nodded to concede that point, before continuing on. "That being said, I don't want to be known as the agent who started a running battle that took out a century-old train station that's on the National Register of Historic Places. So… I do have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to my orders. What's it going to take to make you come peacefully?"

"How do you feel about French cuisine?"


	11. Kate Bishop

Joe's Note: This is actually an idea for the character that's been running through Lexi's head for a while now. Because… well, the canon Kate Bishop doesn't even have Bruce Wayne's origin. She's more akin to Tony Stark or the original Felicia Hardy: a rich girl who decides to blow her parents' money on being an adrenaline junky and eventually gets serious. Well, when they're not trying to insinuate an attempted rape origin for Kate's desire to be a hero, that is…  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"They show up to detain us and you end up blackmailing the agent into taking you out on a date. Thank God you're not a telepath, Dawn Summers, or the world would be fucked."

"So would you, Jean." Dawn snickered at the odd look the redhead shot her before nodding at the third member of their party. "If I had your powers, I would have handed you and Lorna a pair of Get Into Bed cards. Go to bed, go directly to bed, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars."

Lorna let out a groan of disgust before waving her hand, picking up an abandoned soda can and flinging it at the blonde. "For the last time, Dawn, the fact that Jean and I fight a lot doesn't mean there's sexual tension between us. It means we hate each other."

From her spot beside Dawn, Bobbi Morse - with an I rather than a Y, which Dawn thought was cute as hell - let out a vaguely disagreeable sound. "That's not what our asset on the ground at your high school says, but who am I to ruin your delusions?" She wiggled her hips a bit before sighing as Dawn gave her waist a squeeze. "Is this really necessary? I mean, dinner is going to be awkward enough considering I have a wife and all, but-"

"Well yeah. Our plans involved taking the T from here to Emma's house and generally staying low-key. You turned us into a public spectacle. So you get to be part of the spectacle with us." Dawn shivered as she led Bobbi toward the quartet of official-looking black SUVs parked at the curb in front of South Station. Fuck PETA; she totally should have asked Wanda to add some fur trim to her coat before bailing on them. To distract herself from the cold, she looked around and waved at the crowd of people pointing and whispering and taking pictures of her and her companions. Like she'd told Bobbi, that was totally SHIELD's fault. Apart from Lorna's hair, the three of them all looked completely normal and even the girl's 'natural' green locks could be explained away as someone who was a fan of Splat or Manic Panic… and obsessive about touching up her roots. Being escorted out of the station by a superheroine and some soldiers, on the other hand? Wicked conspicuous.

Heh. Wicked. She was already starting to think like a Bostonian.

As they reached the curb, Bobbi squirmed her way out of Dawn's grasp as she held up a hand, bringing their little procession to a stop. Dawn watched the blonde wander over and begin conversing with a few of the soldiers before shrugging and turning her attention to the nearest SUV. While the orange light bar atop the vehicle would have done enough to make it about as inconspicuous as Bobbi, the silver and black eagle logo and 'SHIELD' painted along the bottoms of the doors definitely didn't help there. Not much of a car girl, Dawn quickly lost interest in her eventual ride and turned her attention back to Bobbi… only to jerk her head back in surprise as the front passenger window of the SUV abruptly sprouted an arrow with bright purple fletching. "Gah!"

Her cry attracted Bobbi's attention, who stared at the arrow in surprise for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm guessing it's for you, since he has my number and can text me…"

"Huh?" Dawn's eyes slowly wandered the length of the arrow, from the suction cup tip stuck firmly to the glass window to the purple feathers at the end… and then forward again a bit to where a small piece of paper was wrapped around the shaft of the arrow. Tugging it free of the purple hair tie that had been used to secure it in place, Dawn unrolled it and read the message aloud. "Touch my mom again and my next arrow is a broadhead to the pterion. HB."

Bobbi's expression shifted from annoyance to surprise to anger in a matter of seconds. "What?!" Tearing the note out of Dawn's hands, she read it for herself before looking up and scanning her surroundings. Back and forth her eyes swept, ranging a bit higher each time, and then she paused. Following her line of sight, Dawn spotted something purple peeking out from behind the large stone eagle that stood high atop the station's façade. Without looking away from her quarry, Bobbi reached up to press against something behind her ear, manipulating for a few seconds before speaking. "Katherine. Elizabeth. Bishop. Get your butt down here right this instant."

After a few seconds, a thick black rope tumbled down the front of South Station and a small figure in an outfit as purple as her arrow's fletching came sliding down. As soon as her boots hit the ground, she was trotting over to where Bobbi and Dawn were standing, looking the latter up and down before kicking her in the shin. "Seriously. Headshot. Nobody touches my mom other than my mother." Pausing, Katherine thought for a moment before amending that statement. "At least until Mother talks Mom into letting her bring someone home. And they really need to be quieter when they argue about that, because that's not the kind of thing I need to be hearing about my parents. But still. Keep touching her and see what happens." Raising one hand, the pint-sized terror made an 'I'm watching you' gesture before turning to Bobbi, snapping to attention and saluting. "Ma'am, Agent Bishop reports."

"…and this is why I was against bringing you for Take Our Daughter to Work Day." Bobbi reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But no. Your mother thought it'd be fun and educational. 'What's the worst that could happen from letting her spend a day aboard the helicarrier?', she asked." After another, louder sigh, she returned Bishop's salute. "At ease. Give me the bow. And the quiver. Your godfather is going to be in deep sh… trouble next time I see him. From now on, I'm going to have someone babysit him when he babysits you."

Even as Dawn tried to make sense of the familial terms being tossed around, Katherine grumbled and handed over a rather expensive-looking compound bow that her mom - who was evidently not her mother - quickly passed off to a nearby soldier. After surrendering a black quiver full of arrows with purple fletching, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Actually, this is all your fault." Bobbi raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm twelve years old. I don't need a babysitter. Mother agrees with me, but you keep insisting. Which makes this your fault because you getting Uncle Hawkeye to babysit me gave him a chance to give me the bow and quiver, and to teach me how to use it."

Bobbi leaned her head back and mouthed a few words to the sky before returning her attention to her daughter. "And we'll be adding Stark to the list of babysitters that have to be babysat, since I have a pretty good idea of where you picked up debate techniques like that from. Go get in the lead SUV. We'll discuss this when we get back to base."

"Fine." Katherine turned and managed to stomp a whopping two steps away before her mother's hand came down hard on her shoulder. "What?"

Reaching down, Bobbi pulled something off the outside of the girl's left thigh. "Did you steal my backup… wait, these are too small. Who made you a set of battle staves?"

"Uncle Agent."

"Definitely no more Stark. Or Agent Coulson, evidently." Bobbi threw her hands up in the air in disgust. "Are there any responsible adults left at SHIELD? Any at all?"

"Does Aunt Maria getting this outfit made so I'd have protection for my first real mission count?"

"…that is pretty much the exact opposite of responsible."

"Oh. Then I've got nothing."


	12. Natasha Romanoff

Joe's Note: For those of you who might have found Kate a little obnoxious or ludicrous… now you know how I feel when I read 95% of "Harry/Xander gets adopted" or "Harry's real family" fanfics. While the DC universe has a history of teen sidekicks and such, genuine children are few and far between, while Marvel didn't even really use children until the debut of _Runaways_ and _Young Avengers_. Mostly because the adults *gasp* were adult enough to not want to use children - especially their own children - as meat shields. Something to keep in mind going forward. And now… Mom had her chapter. Time for Mother.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

Given that SHIELD appeared to be an odd mix of military, spy, and superheroes, Dawn was understandably surprised when the SUV pulled up in front of the headquarters of the Boston division of the FBI: a long, curving building that was dwarfed by the rest of the Government Center complex. Why not a local military base, or a CIA office, or… wherever superheroes met? Some sort of warehouse turned into a secret lair? Maybe they were just renting office space here or had commandeered some for the afternoon, she mused as they were hustled through the lobby and into the elevator. Otherwise… well, SHIELD's vehicles and agents were well-marked. Why would this building and its workers's security badges bear solely the FBI's markings?

What was not surprising, on the other hand, was that they were quickly separated once they reached their destination. Or rather, that Dawn was separated from Jean and Lorna and led off into an office as her traveling companions were guided over to a couch in front of a large television. She'd had a feeling from the beginning that it was only 'you three' as a way to reduce the girls' resistance to the thought of giving up the girl they were supposed to be escorting around Boston. Taking a seat at the desk of one 'Special Agent Lucia M. Ziobro', Dawn raised an eyebrow at the Starbucks cold cup sitting in front of her. "Poison, truth serum, or bribe?"

"Me being the good cop, Miss Summers. I thought that your favorite drink might relax you." The voice belonged to neither Bobbi nor the young Agent Bishop, and Dawn looked back over her shoulder curiously to find a statuesque redhead in a matte black catsuit leaning against the back of the door, bookended by the two agents who had escorted Dawn in. How the… a teleporter, maybe? Given that SHIELD evidently handled a variety of superhuman matters, it was likely that they employed- "I was standing in the corner when you were brought in. You need to work on your situational awareness." Making her way over to the desk Dawn was sitting at, the redhead paused beside Dawn and peered down at her. "Oh, and you should probably stop touching my wife. The flirting is cute and all and I don't mind you taking her out to dinner, but nobody gets into our bed without my approval. I am a woman with… unconventional desires… Miss Summers, and I don't think you'd be able to satisfy them."

Holy _Fifty Shades of SHIELD_, Batman. Dawn reached out and snatched up the frappuccino, ducking her head a bit as she raised the straw to her lips so that her hair would slide down and cover her blushing cheeks. Mostly because she could very easily picture this woman bending her over the very sturdy wooden desk she was sitting in front of and doing all manner of things to her. She seemed like the type, all catsuit-clad and fierce and commanding and such. But… as sexy as the redhead was, it wasn't really Dawn's thing. Not that she had anything against people who mixed pain with pleasure; to each their own and all that. But she liked her pleasure with a side of pleasure and maybe some more pleasure. No pain, kay thanks. "Right. No more touching Bobbi unless I want to get spanked. I can do that. Err, not do that." Watching as the redhead seated herself, Dawn took several quick sips from her drink, hoping the cool mixture of coffee, milk, ice, and chocolate might possibly do something for the heat in her cheeks. "So… does that make you the actual Agent Bishop? Also an Agent Morse?"

Gesturing for Dawn to lean forward, the redhead reached out and ran her fingers through Dawn's hair several times. Just as the blonde was starting to get weirded out by the random stranger petting, the woman pulled back and showed Dawn… "I'm sure you don't want us listening in when you meet your family for the first time. And you can call me Agent Romanoff. Natasha if you're feeling more familiar than you should. Or if you wish to be one of those mutants… Black Widow."

"I'm not sure what kind of mutant I am yet, so… what the hell, let's go with Natasha. I mean, I'm already calling your wife Bobbi and she's fine with it." Tilting her head to the side, Dawn studied the tiny black and red device that Natasha was grasping between two fingers. Suddenly, she realized how they knew exactly what to order her from Starbucks. "Is that… you bugged me?"

The answer came not from the redhead on the other side of the desk, but rather from behind Dawn. "I tagged you at Grand Central Terminal when you were getting off the commuter train." Wandering over, Katherine hopped up onto the desk beside her mother, kicking her legs as she smirked at Dawn. "Then I bumped into you while you were walking down 42nd, stole the bug back, and bugged you again while you were talking to Spider-Man. You're kinda lucky I didn't start wanting to kill you until Boston, or else…" Trailing off, the brunette drew one finger across her throat slowly.

Natasha let out a throat laugh at that, wrapping an arm around Katherine's waist and giving the brunette a squeeze. "I told the director that you were the perfect girl for the job, my little Hawkingbird. Managing it when the target had a telepathic companion makes it even more impressive, not to mention slipping it back on her without the two spiders noticing. As soon as we get back to New York, I'll-"

"What the hell? You knew about this little adventure of hers? You arranged it, even?" Stalking over, Bobbi leaned forward and slammed her hands down on the desk next to Dawn and oh hey look, cleavage. Wait, cleavage that could lead to her getting spanked or tied up and whipped or… something. That was incentive enough for Dawn to remember where Bobbi's face was. Bobbi's incredibly irate face. "How could you? Our daughter is twelve years old, Natasha! Twelve!"

"To be fair, Bobbi, I was killing men for my handlers at her age. And it was just a harmless information gathering mission. Which she did wonderfully at, might I add."

"To be fair, Natasha, Kate is twelve and so I don't fucking care!"

Natasha groaned and leaned back in her seat, bringing her fingers up to rub at her temples. "Boh ty moy. Never mind that I've been raising Katherine for more than twice as long as you've been in our lives… but that's really not a discussion that we need to have in front of our guest here. Miss Summers. Can I call you Dawn?" The blonde nodded. "Dawn, SHIELD is aware of how tempting it is to use the powers that you've been given to make a difference in the world. In the future, though? We'd like you to try and be a bit more discreet about it. If you're planning to make a habit of vigilante behavior, I'd recommend sticking primarily to partial transformations… and purchasing a wide assortment of gloves." Dawn nodded; in other words, pretend to have a mean right hook instead of exposing herself as a mutant regularly in a world that evidently wasn't ready for her kind. Sensible enough. "Also, your taste in friends is a bit concerning. Your connection to the Frost family combined with the time you've been spending with Magneto's daughters is already raising the eyebrows of some very powerful and influential people. You can't pick your family, but I'd recommend you not get much closer to the Brotherhood."

That also made sense. Then something occurred to her, making Dawn shoot a glance back over her shoulder at the closed door before returning her attention to Natasha. "I totally get why you don't want me consorting with terrorists, or at least no more beyond Wanda and Lorna. But… can I trade Wanda in for a different member of the Brotherhood at some point? I'm not sure how long we'll stay friends after she finishes making me a tiara, what with the creepy incest thing she and her brother are rocking."

"Well, that depends." Natasha picked up a tablet that Dawn hadn't even noticed lying on the desk before now, tapping at the screen for a few seconds before peering over the top at the blonde. "Are we talking about a particular someone or a theoretical someone? Because some members of the Brotherhood have cleaner hands than others…"

"Um, theoretical? I don't even know who's in the Brotherhood beyond the twins and Lorna and their father. And some guy named Forge." Dawn shrugged helplessly. "I was just thinking that maybe someday Lorna might want to bring one of her friends somewhere with us, and so being able to trade Wanda in and open up an acceptable friend slot might be useful. Or hell, Lorna and I are more traveling companions than friends at this point. I might want to trade her in too and open up both of my terrorist friend slots in case I meet a decent Brotherhood member someday."

Surprisingly, Natasha actually looked a little impressed at Dawn's reasoning. "If what SHIELD thinks actually matters to you? I can give you the closest thing I have to a public email address so that you can contact me in the future." Reaching into her cleavage, the redhead pulled out a business card and scribbled something on the back of it before sliding it across the desk to Dawn. That done, Natasha offered a rueful grin as she nodded in Bobbi's direction. "Seeing as how I'm now in the doghouse… is there any chance I can talk you into transferring that date you negotiated for to another of our agents? If I'm going to need to grovel to avoid a long-term assignment in Couchistan, I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

"I volunteer as tribute!" Katherine's hand shot into the air before slowly lowering. "What? I hate her, but I really like French food."

Dawn leaned forward, reaching out to pat the girl on the knee before thinking twice and sitting back in her chair. After all, the girl had threatened to kill her at least three times in the last hour. "Sorry, Kateniss, but you're a little young for me. And if you're serious… I wasn't going to hold Bobbi to it, but having an escape plan for tomorrow evening could come in handy if the Frosts and I don't hit it off. Um, do you have some way of showing me pictures of your local agents or something? I mean, it's not like I'm looking for a serious girlfriend or anything; good scenery will definitely trump common interests here." Smirking, Natasha nodded and began tapping away at her tablet. As she worked, Dawn took a sip from her slowly warming drink and chuckled. "I gotta admit, this is going a lot better than I thought it would. I thought you'd be freaked out about the fact that I'm from another world."

"…yes. About that."

"Oh. Fuck. Me and my big mouth."


	13. Carol Danvers

Joe's Note: This is most definitely a Carol that's off the reservation compared to the various other versions we've seen in canon, and that's entirely because it's something I want to beta-test in a short before taking live in a story of her own. Or rather, I want to test out for Lexi before she decides to use it in _Seasons of Change_ or the Jessica Drew/Carol Danvers fic she's outlining at the moment.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, Nathan, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"My father began implanting me with Kree technology when I was in kindergarten, ma'am. I went through five sets of 'training eyes' before having my final growth set implanted two years ago. I know how to read a scan result, and it says that this girl is one hundred percent _Homo sapiens superior_."

Extraterrestrial demons like the Queller had been strange enough, but had fit within Dawn's world view. Even if they weren't from earth, they were still demons. She could do demons. Finding out, on the other hand, that the American government of this reality was not only aware of alien life but employed a blue-skinned woman who was half-human and half-something-called-a-Kree? That blew her mind. And that was before 'Agent Danvers' busted out some tech that made Iron Man look like something out of the Middle Ages. Her eyes, for instance, which looked like the real thing most of the time but were evidently cybernetic implants whose irises could glow a slightly greener than teal color and turn her into a walking tricorder. A cute blue walking tricorder that had just validated her story, thankfully. "See. I told you."

Groaning, Natasha ran her fingers through her chin-length red hair. "I know you did, Dawn. To quote America's most famous fictional diagnostician, though… people lie. Especially in this business. So I had the responsibility to try and verify what you were telling me. Since I have no way of testing whether or not you are in fact from another reality, I decided to take the Holmesian approach and try to eliminate the possibilities that I could. In this case, all of the alien races known to the Kree Empire. Which include a subspecies of their own people who look almost identical to humans, a species of shapeshifters, and two other species that can take on human form."

"And I'm wicked excited that someone's putting the intelligence back in 'intelligence-gathering agency', but it doesn't really help in this situation." Draining the last of her frappuccino, Dawn leaned back in her chair and pitched it toward the trash can in the corner. It ricocheted off both nearby walls before dropping into the can, and she thrust her arms skyward. "Three points!"

There was a moment of silence that was broken by Danvers coughing lightly into her fist. "Actually, ma'am, I can think of one way we could check to prove whether or not Miss Summers is from another reality… but I'd have to ask you and the others to leave the room. The knowledge is currently restricted to Level 8 operatives and higher. And yes, I'm aware of how bizarre that sounds given that I'm only a Level 6 operative, but… well, they can't exactly restrict me from knowing about myself, now can they?"

Natasha slowly turned her head to stare at the blue-skinned blonde, making her squirm uncomfortably, and then the corner of her mouth quirked upward. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But all right. You haven't let me down yet, Agent Danvers, and so I'll humor you… this time. I am going to go make a call to the Triskelion, though. Suddenly, I'm understanding how Clint feels when I'm given missions inside his missions; it's no fun at all when you're the one getting blindsided by 'need to know'. I'll take Bobbi and Katherine with me. I'm guessing I'll be on the phone for… maybe ten minutes or so?"

"Fifteen. I've got a feeling that I'm going to have to deal with… contamination issues."

"Do you now?" Natasha's eyes roamed up and down over Dawn slowly and then she chuckled lowly as she rose to her feet. "Well then. Have fun, Dawn…"

Dawn watched nervously as the redhead herded Kate and Bobbi from the room, followed by the two agents who had served as her escorts earlier. Contamination? Her? What? As soon as the door shut behind the departing agents, Danvers took a moment to indulge in a rather unprofessional snicker before drawing herself up to her full height. "Right. As much fun as it might be to drag this out and make it as uncomfortable for you as humanly possible… strip. Now. I need everything that Miss Lehnsherr changed in a pile on the desk."

That made Dawn's eyes go wide. Mostly because she was aware of exactly how much of what she was wearing had been modified by Wanda's powers. "…what?"

Circling around the desk, Danvers reached in and fingered the collar of the blouse that Wanda had created for Dawn from the t-shirt she'd been wearing when she boarded the train. "Like I told Agent Romanoff, I have to worry about contamination. If I activate my power suit, the more complex sensor suite is capable of scanning you all the way down to the quantum level. That will tell me - and therefore her - whether or not you're a native of this reality. But the scan returns a simple yes or no result; it can't tell where something came from, just if it came from somewhere other than here. That means Miss Lehnsherr's powers register on it. Active usage or power residue. So scanning you in what you're wearing…"

"…creates a false positive that proves nothing. Because you can't truthfully tell your boss that I'm the reason I tested positive when you know it's the clothes. Great." Reaching up, Dawn undid two buttons again before tugging her collar to the right to bare her cardinal red bra strap. "One small problem. She got at everything I'm wearing."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"Well then." Pushing a button on her watch, Danvers shrugged out of her suit jacket and removed her black tie before going to work on her white blouse. When it came off, Dawn found herself staring not at the blue cleavage she expected, but a mass of writhing green wires and shifting white armor plates. "I guess we've got thirteen minutes to become very comfortable with each other, Miss Summers."

* * *

"So, if you're not going to take me out for dinner, can you bring some decent takeout to… wherever I end up?" Dawn offered Carol - evidently, stripping down had earned her the right to use the blonde's first name - her best puppy dog eyes. "I mean, I can get you not wanting to go out somewhere with me. You know, because you're blue and people stare and everything, especially when you're with the Frost family's newest member. But after what you just put me through? I think I deserve a little something."

"How about a gift card to Starbucks?"

"How about a coffee date at Starbucks?" Dawn let out a sigh of dismay as Carol shook her head; why did all the really unique and cute ones so into playing hard to get? She was an awesome catch and she knew they'd have fun with her if they just gave her a chance. "You know, I could add 'blue' to the list of requirements I gave Natasha for my date tomorrow night. I was just trying to negotiate a separate day from you because you told me you don't like French."

Carol turned away from her study of Cambridge Street, meeting Dawn's eyes with the glowing greenish-white gaze of her power suit. "And I could always tell Agent Romanoff that your quantum variance messed with my first scan, and that you're actually a dimension-hopping Skrull."

Chuckling, Dawn finished buttoning up her blouse and then reached out, snatching Carol's tie off the desk. It wasn't like the blonde was using it at the moment, she reasoned. "Not quite sure why that's a bad thing, but I have a feeling that it means you'd end up as my blue-skinned blond date for a French dinner in a holding cell somewhere. And I'd be sure to ask for escargot." Carol shuddered and turned back to watch the street, leaving Dawn to fight with her purloined tie. Threading the tie through the collar of her blouse, Dawn tried to remember the lessons her mom had given her on how the damn things worked. Cross the fat portion over the skinny end, and then pull the larger end up and around so it looped through… "Okay, final offer. You, me, Jean or Emma, Dunkin Donuts tomorrow for breakfast. They can make sure that nobody notices anything strange about you, and I'm wicked curious about the place. I've been seeing ads for them all over the city, but we don't have them where I'm from."

"…what? There's something like, fifty Dunkin Donuts within a mile of this building." Carol held up her left arm, tapping at the back of her wrist with her free hand and creating a glowing green holographic map of the area. One by one, paired orange and pink 'DD's began to pop up all over the place. "Where the hell are you from, Smallville?"

"California."

"Fucking foreigners." Dawn whirled around at the sound of a voice that was both familiar and unexpected; the latter because not only were there only two of them in the room, but because its owner should have been in another dimension. The source was revealed as the grate popped off the office's air vent, and a black-clad figure tumbled out. Straightening up, the girl tossed her head, sending her wild brown mane tumbling down her back and giving Dawn a good look at her face. While the brunette was younger than any version of the original that Dawn had met, it was impossible to deny who she was looking at. "I'mma guess from the look that you're giving me that we've met before? Well, you and another me?"

"…Faith?"


	14. Faith Lehane

Joe's Note: After twenty-some-odd reviews packed with ideas, some of which overlapped and many of which I hadn't even considered… Faith now has a backstory. An alien backstory, as suggested by Meneldur, skychan (sorta), and laoshi. While I was leaning toward tchizek's suggestion of Faith the Valkyrie… laoshi tossed out an idea that was too good to resist. I totally dug tchizek's idea, though, so we might see another Scooby analog at some point who's a dís in this world.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, MJ, Daniel, Christopher, Marc, Ziryo, Elliot, Crusifikz70, Timothy, Leigh, Jason, Chris, George, Koby, Ken, Thyatira, William, Wil, Invernos, Jack, Pat, Warren, Chris, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"…Faith?"

"Sup?" Faith nodded to Dawn before turning her attention to Carol. "So, can you at least do Dunkin Donuts with her? I've got a few bucks I wanna toss your way, because a Boston kreme or three would be wicked awesome right about now."

Carol looked down at herself, then back up at Faith, and then down once more at the mix of greenish-black skinsuit and white armor that adorned her body. "Oh sure, I'll just run out and do that for you right away. I'm sure that'd end spectacularly for me." Closing the distance between them, she reached down and yanked a wallet out of Faith's pocket, flipping it open and rifling around inside. "I've got a better idea." Pulling out a blue card with a red stripe running along the top edge, she pushed it into Faith's hand before returning the girl's wallet to her pocket. "I'll stay here, shut down my power suit, and get dressed… and you can take our guest here out for all the donuts you two can eat on Obama's dollar, Rainbow Brite."

The affronted expression on Faith's face - and distinct difference in nomenclature - made Dawn ask the obvious question. "Rainbow… Brite?"

"You can call it a 'post-human name' or a callsign or a codename or whatever… all of SHIELD's field agents have them, because yelling out your coworkers' real names in the middle of a fight isn't the best idea in this business." Faith jerked a thumb in Carol's direction. "She's Agent Mahr Vehl. Her father's last name and her current rank. I wanted to call her Warbird because she looks all fierce and dangerous like a fighter jet, but nope. Then we have Black Widow and Mockingbird. They're the best parents a girl can ask for, at least if you ask me. Nat's in her eighties and so she's seen and done it all, which makes her really hard to freak out. Bobbi was really cool back when they first hooked up, but she's been getting more and more by-the-book as she gets older. I think it's because she realizes that there would be people left behind these days if she died from some of the crazy shit she used to pull back in the day. They're also wicked hot, which makes for some nice scenery around the apartment."

Dawn found herself nodding along as Faith talked; it was a lesson that Buffy had sadly never learned, leading to her swan dive off the tower and subsequent resurrection. It was one thing to be selfish and self-destructive, but when you were serving as someone's surrogate mother… there was more than just your future hanging in the balance when you made decisions. The last bit… agreed. And suddenly, jealous of Faith. "So are you and Kate related? Because I never knew my Faith's last name, and you two kinda look alike now that I think about it…"

Glancing back over her shoulder at the closed door, Faith chuckled before turning back to Dawn and shaking her head. "Total coincidence. By the way, digging Kateniss. Think I'll use that to tease her from now on, because she's crazy obsessed with those books. Anyway, where was I? SHIELD agents, codenames, subtle 411 on people you might meet in the future… I know I didn't mention Ant-Man and Wasp because the less said about those two freaks, the better. I still can't get a straight answer on whether there's domestic abuse going on there or if they're just into some wicked kinky shit. Stay away from them if you value your sanity. Um… oh! Kate, obviously. She's not actually an agent yet, but she's already got a name. Hawkingbird is a portmanteau…" Dawn's eyes widened. "You know, a word that's made from two other words?"

"Oh, I know. Just kinda surprised you do." Dawn knew that she should really be treating this girl like Vampire Willow, at least insofar as not expecting her to be like the Slayer she'd met. But it was hard, even with the definite physical differences: this version was a good two years younger - at a minimum - than Faith had been when she first arrived in Sunnydale, with longer and lighter brown hair and a bit more meat on her bones. Probably because she ate well and regularly, and wasn't on the run from a master vampire. "My Faith… err, my world's Faith? She's smart in her own way, but she's not really intelligent. Street smart, not book smart."

Turning her head to the left, Faith did a slow and methodical survey of the room, even peeking back over her shoulder for good measure. "And since I'm not her and she's not here? Why don't you save shit like that for when you get home and treat me like what I am: this world's Faith." Dawn held up her hands in surrender, making Faith scoff before continuing. "Like I was saying, Hawkingbird is a combination of Bobbi's codename and Hawkeye, which is the name of another agent she spends a lot of time with. Considering she's been Nat's daughter for ten years and Bobbi's for only four, I don't why there's not a 'Black' or spider reference in there, but whatever."

Dawn nodded; she didn't exactly get why the people in question had the names they did, but the point was that everyone at SHIELD seemed to have one. Gotcha. That still didn't answer her actual question, though. "So why do they call you Rainbow Brite?"

"Because I'm surrounded by wicked fucking dumb people who are like, twelve on the inside." Faith tossed her credit card in Dawn's direction; the blonde lunged forward to grab it but missed as a bright pulse of light made her cry out in pain. Stumbling backward, Dawn tripped and fell onto her ass, staring upward in amazement at… "Yeah. I'm a flying girl made of rainbows. Wanna make something of it?"

Not really, no. Mostly because it was awesome. And really pretty. Dawn approached Faith slowly, reaching out to poke at one of the glowing tendrils of multicolored hair that were floating around Faith's face. While they were slightly translucent, they were very much solid and a bit warm too. "How come Hallie didn't give me a mutant power like this?"

"Fuck if I know. Who's Hallie?" Faith held her hand up as Dawn opened her mouth to reply. "Rhetorical question. I don't actually care. Now, do you want some donuts or not? Because I'm hungry and I think Bluebell needs us to leave so she can put her real people clothes back on."

Dawn shot a glance over at Carol, who nodded before turning a bit to reveal the translucent garment bag she'd thrown over one shoulder, the identical twin of her original agent-y outfit waiting inside. "Well, I ate on the way up here… but I guess I could go for a snack." Faith made a vaguely approving noise as she slipped a chunky metal bracelet onto her left wrist, her body solidifying and retaking a fully human appearance as she dropped the two or three inches to the floor with a thump. "So, this might be a dumb question, but since I've never been… does Dunkin Donuts do low-fat donuts? Because I had a lobster roll for lunch and I'm trying to watch my figure."

Chuckling, Faith wrapped her right arm around Dawn's waist before sliding her hand down to rest on Dawn's ass. "Girl, as someone who's watching your figure?" The hand roamed around a bit before giving one cheek a firm squeeze, making the blonde squeak and jump a bit. "You could use half a dozen donuts or so. Minimum."

While she'd never been able to get a straight answer - pun fully intended - from her sister nor had Faith been especially chatty when it came to her feelings, Dawn had always gotten the feeling that at least Faith was bi from the way she eyed Cordelia and interacted with Buffy. That being said, she still hadn't quite seen this particular plot twist coming. "…your powers aren't the only reason they call you Rainbow Brite, huh?"

"Nope." Faith offered her a grin and gave the blonde's ass another squeeze. "Problem?"

Peering back over her shoulder at the roaming hand, Dawn thought for a moment before shrugging. It was a little weird on account of her past with Faith, but this wasn't her reality's Faith - as Faith herself had quite emphatically pointed out - and she was awfully cute. A lot of girls in this universe were, Dawn was noticing, to the point that she was halfway considering trying to star in her own harem anime rather than try to pick just one to flirt with. And speaking of flirting, Faith was evidently willing to flirt back unlike anyone else she'd met so far, which would make things a lot more fun than the one-sided flirting Dawn had been engaged in all morning. "Nah. Just out of curiosity… I'm also guessing you're incapable of lying?"

"Can't deny it."


End file.
